23:59
by minixoxmya
Summary: It only takes a minute to change your life forever...as her 18th birthday approached, Aria knew that change was going to be for the better. Oneshot


**23:59**

~x~

Aria Montgomery sighed as she closed her eyes. This was the day she had been waiting for for two years.

In one minute she was finally going to turn eighteen.

The past two years had been more than difficult; with the discovery of Alison's body, being stalked by several crazy sociopaths, framed for murder multiple times and having to wear an orange jumpsuit, she couldn't imagine thing could get any worse.

However; when her boyfriend, who also doubled as her ex-English teacher, stood in front of her parents and declared his love for her, she realized that none of the incidents mentioned above were anything in comparison to this.

As expected her parents had attempted, and momentarily succeeded to shut down the relationship, but with six months already under their belts, it seemed crazy to give it all up without a fight. They had been hiding their relationship for months, what was a few more?

She figured it would eventually blow over, once the next shocking news story hit the press, people would stop paying attention to their 'inappropriate relationship'. They could eat dinner together, hold hands in public, but all public intimacy still had to be kept to a minimum.

It killed her that she couldn't kiss him goodbye or be seen entering and leaving his apartment. They still had the law against them, even if the other people in their lives were slowly beginning to accept them as a couple.

But in one minute that would all change. She would finally be an adult in the eyes of not just the people around her, but society and the law.

They could finally be together without fear, without worries, without stress. Sure, the thought of the police and all the other horrible things hadn't prevented them from sleeping together over a year ago, the time had been right and it had brought them overwhelmingly closer together. The thought of being able to have that side of their relationship without consequences completely set her mind free.

She glanced back over at the clock.

23:59

Why was time passing so slowly, could it just be midnight already so she could finally tell herself that it was all over? That all the hiding and secrets had been worth it because she was finally an adult?

She had desperately wanted to spend the night with Ezra, but her parents had insisted she spent the night at home. They were still less than wholly accepting of the relationship, but they had quit trying to do anything after it. After her parents had got divorced it seemed like breaking them up wasn't a battle that was worth fighting.

Her thoughts were distracted by her phone buzzing against the night stand, she had amazing friends and every year on each of their birthdays they competed against each other to see who could be the first to say Happy Birthday.

This year Spencer had taken first prize, Aria smiled at that, she knew Spencer would be ridiculously excited when she found out she had won.

'_Happy 18__th__ Birthday girl! Hope all your wishes finally come true!' _

Aria smiled, there was more to the text than Happy Birthday wishes, and the best part was that Aria knew in a few short hours it really would all come true.

As the numbers on the clock turned to 00:15 her phone buzzed again. She had received messages from all of her friends so they only person left had to be Ezra.

'_Happy Birthday Beautiful, today all of our dreams come true. I can't wait to see you. I love you x'_

A huge smile crept onto her face; he never failed to make her happy. No matter what he did or said and no matter how she was feeling, he always managed to make her smile.

Today was going to be the start of the rest of their lives.

~x~

"Aria?"

"Aria, wake up!"

Aria scrunched up her face as she woke up, her mother perched on her bed shaking her arm lightly to wake her.

"Happy Birthday Honey, I can't believe you're eighteen." Ella Montgomery kissed her daughter gently on the forehead. She wondered to herself how time has gone so quickly, how had her tiny baby daughter turned into such a beautiful young woman?

"Thanks Mom. Morning Dad," Aria smiled at her father who was stood in her bedroom doorway. Her relationship with Byron was frosty at best, they had brief moments when she thought things could change but they never did.

She had never been able to forgive him for cheating and making her lie for him. She had tried so hard to get passed it, but when he had brought Meredith into their lives for a second time, it all became too much.

"Happy Birthday, breakfast is on the table." With that Byron left.

Ella sighed and looked across at her daughter's face. She could read the pain in her eyes, a pain no birthday girl should ever have to go through. It pained her that her ex-husband was treating their daughter this way, but she was powerless to change it.

"He'll come around Sweetheart, one day everything will go back to the way that it used to be." Ella was hopeful that her worlds would one day be the truth, but that didn't matter right now, today she was going to try and do her best to prevent her ex-husband from ruining their daughter's birthday.

Aria forced a smile as her mom left the room; she appreciated her mother's words of hope but she knew nothing would ever be the same. There was too much water under the bridge, too many lies that had been told, and she knew that the father/daughter relationship they once had was gone forever.

Today though, she didn't care, nothing could taint the incredible sense of happiness she was feeling.

Before she jumped in the shower she sent a quick text to Ezra, letting him know she was awake. The plan was that he would pick her up after breakfast at eleven, take her for lunch and shopping, before returning her for her birthday party in the evening.

'_Just woke up…Byron on top form, see you soon!' _

She had long since stopped referring to her father as Dad when she was talking to Ezra. She couldn't forgive him for getting Ezra fired and she didn't feel comfortable calling him Dad when Ezra was around, no father would ever do such a malicious thing to someone their child loved.

She had made her feelings towards her father perfectly clear, he should have been the one that left not her mother, and subsequently spent most nights either at her mother's apartment or at Ezra's apartment.

As she walked down the stairs she was greeted with a huge hug from her brother and even a happy birthday kiss.

"Wow, double berry pancakes! Lucky me!" Aria smiled over at her mom as they all sat down to eat together.

Birthdays had always been a big deal in the Montgomery household but since Byron and Ella's marriage had fallen apart nothing had been quite the same. Ella tried really hard to hold it together for her children on special days, she had come over to the house for birthdays and Christmases without fail and it was something Aria and Mike had become very thankful for.

However, the tension in the room could be cut with a knife.

"So what are you plans for the day?" Ella asked, desperate to resolve the awkward silence that surrounded the dining room table.

Aria had barely noticed the atmosphere; she was so far up on cloud nine that there wasn't much that would be able to bring her down.

"Ezra is coming to pick me up in a half an hour. We'll be back in time for the party tonight; he's taking me shopping in Philly, his treat!" Aria practically bounced off her seat as she explained her birthday plans.

Ella smiled over at her daughter again; she couldn't say that she agreed with the relationship that Aria and Ezra had, but seeing her daughter so happy prevented her from acting upon her disapproving feelings.

"Don't you think you should be spending the day with your family?" Byron asked coldly, his disapproving voice showing his ugly head.

Aria frowned; she couldn't believe that her father was behaving like this, being so difficult on her birthday. Mike suddenly slammed down his fork on his plate and looked over at his sister.

They had grown increasingly close over the past two years and he wasn't about to let their father ruin Aria's birthday.

"Why don't you just shut up?!" Mike shouted, surprising everyone that was sat around the table.

Aria wasn't the only one drifting away from her father, Mike was finding it more and more difficult to remain friendly with the man who had broken them all.

Mike had also become close to Ezra as the months and years had passed. On many occasions Mike had gone to Ezra for tutoring, and he had had dinner with Aria and Ezra at the apartment several times.

Before anyone could say anything else the doorbell broke the awkward tense silence. Aria shot up from her chair and rushed towards the door, swinging it open excitedly. Without words Ezra stepped into the house, swinging Aria around in circles as she giggled loudly.

"Happy Birthday!" He said as he kissed her nose gently, keeping it PG as he was mindful that Byron and Ella were closely watching proceedings. Aria stayed snuggled into his arms for a few moments, enjoying the feeling of freedom that she finally had.

Everything was falling into place.

'A' was finally long gone; no one had heard from he/she in months. The girls assumed whoever it was had either gotten bored of tormenting them or was locked up in jail somewhere that no one knew about. Either way it didn't matter, nothing and nobody was going to ruin this day.

Quickly she rushed upstairs to grab her purse so they could go, leaving Ezra alone with her parents.

"Take care of my birthday girl. Thanks for taking her out today, I think she needs it." Ella glanced over at her husband who hadn't moved from his position at the dining table. Cautiously Ella glanced back at Ezra, they had an unspoken understanding about Byron's bad attitude and Ezra knew exactly what Ella meant when she said Aria needed to be away.

"Ready to go?" Aria asked as she bounced back down the stairs, hugging her mother and Mike before grasping Ezra's hand tightly in hers.

It felt so good to know this was how it was going to be forever.

Together they walked hand in hand to the bottom of the Montgomery driveway and towards Ezra's car. It felt great to not care how many Nosey Nellies were peaking around their curtains and watching them.

All that mattered in that moment was them.

~x~

"Everything okay in there Babe?" Ezra called through the fitting room door.

The couple had driven to Philadelphia and as a birthday gift to Aria; Ezra was treating her to anything and everything she wanted. He took pleasure in treating Aria as often as he could; he had spent so long having to save every cent and spend carefully after he lost his job at Hollis, so now that he was earning good money again he took every opportunity he had to spoil her.

"Yeah great! Can you get me this shirt in purple?" Aria called as she tossed a green shirt over the top of the fitting room door. She didn't have to ask him twice, she knew he would do anything for her, even the most mundane of tasks.

She smiled to herself as she looked back into the mirror, she hadn't picked out much from any of the stores they had been into; she was still very cautious of Ezra's spending, even if she wouldn't ever let him know that, it didn't matter how many times he reassured her not to worry she always did.

Three months ago Ezra had accepted a position and the University of Pennsylvania, it paid more than his job at Hollis and allowed him to finally be able to teach again, something he had missed hugely when he hadn't been working.

"What do you think?" Aria asked as she stepped out of the fitting room and into the small corridor wearing a soft lilac summer dress with white butterflies embroidered onto it.

She valued Ezra's opinion on every aspect in her life, especially if it involved him paying for something, but if she had her heart set on something his opinion was just for reference purposes and definitely wouldn't stop her…she was much too headstrong for that. Ezra loved that about her, it was a quality that had kept her fighting for their relationship through some of the toughest times.

"It's beautiful, you should wear it tonight." Ezra smiled as he passed her the purple shirt she had been asking for, pausing for a moment to press a chaste kiss against her soft glossy lips.

God he loved her, he loved her more than anyone else and he contemplated for a moment that even after all this time, he still couldn't believe she was his. She was beautiful, smart, funny and so much more…she was everything he had ever dreamt of having in a girlfriend.

Behind the fitting room door, Aria too was taking a moment to contemplate the amazing relationship she had found herself in. She had never imagined that upon her return from Europe she would find the man of his dreams. Ezra was in fact beyond anything she had ever dreamt of; he was incredibly handsome, he had amazing eyes, a sense of humour and he cared about her more than anything. She felt safe in his arms and after everything that had happened to her, having a safe place felt incredible.

"Ready to go?" Aria asked as she opened the door to the fitting room and made her way towards the cashier, sighing as she broke her happy moment of contemplation to continue on with their exciting day.

Summer had long since departed the now chilly streets of Philadelphia , the leaves that had once been green were now a crisp orange and the sky was beginning to fill with snow laden clouds.

"We should be getting back, it's an hour in good traffic and you don't want to be late for your own party." Ezra chuckled, knowing Aria would have shopped for easily another two hours if she had been given the opportunity.

She loved to shop; grocery shopping, clothes shopping, furniture shopping, it didn't matter. Shopping was her way of escaping from the harsh realities that had been her life since she had returned from Iceland two years previously.

It had been a rocky journey for both of them; throughout the two years of their relationship they had experienced more hurt, more loss, more death and more fear than most people would in their lifetimes. There was no one in the world more thankful that A was finally gone than Ezra; he had watch the nameless, faceless person destroy his girlfriend and her friends for the entire length of their relationship and it had all become too much.

He had always been protective of Aria, and not being able to protect her from A had made him feel like a failure. Aria, of course, had spent countless hours reassuring him otherwise but until everybody knew that A was gone for good the thought was always in the back of his mind.

After Detective Wilden's death and the arrest of CeCe for his murder, the torment finally came to an end. CeCe had been running the show; she had been the one in charge of terrorizing Aria and her friends. When CeCe had discovered Ali had been killed, her desperate need to punish Ali for things that had happened 'that summer' was transferred onto Ali's closest friends.

Pushing the thought from his mind; Ezra stared down at his content girlfriend, the day that the torment stopped was the second greatest day of his life….today was the first.

~x~

The journey from Philly had been long, they had got caught up in traffic from an accident and Aria had been forced to change into her new dress in the car as they waited in traffic on the highway.

As they pulled up to the Montgomery house it was clear that Ella and Mike had had a very busy day, banners and balloons hung from every available space on the porch and a huge happy birthday sign hung on the door.

"Ready?" Ezra asked as they walked hand in hand towards the front door, they had been to parties together before but for some reason this one seemed different…bigger.

Aria gripped Ezra's hand tighter, stopping him from opening the door for a moment. Slowly, she placed her arms up and around his neck, brushing the soft hairs on the back of his neck before leaning up and pressing a gentle kiss to his lips.

"One for luck." She whispered, enjoying their last moment together before they opened the front door and entered the chaos that was awaiting them.

As soon as they opened the door Aria was overwhelmed by friends and family wishing her happy birthday. A huge pile of presents was waiting for her on the dining room table and delicious food was being passed around from guest to guest.

"ARIA!" Emily called as she ran over with Spencer and Hanna close behind; all three wrapped their arms around Aria and wished her a happy birthday.

As the girls chatted amongst themselves, Aria became lost as her eyes wondered around the room in search of someone. She couldn't believe that he wasn't here, that he had disappeared on her birthday without so much as an explanation.

What kind of Dad ditches his daughter's eighteenth birthday party? She wondered to herself, allowed the feeling of disappointment to overtake the feelings of excitement and happiness she had had most of the day.

"Mom, where's Dad?" Aria asked Ella quietly as she walked into the kitchen and stood with her mother, who was still frantically putting together the remainder of the food for all the guests.

Ella sighed and stopped what she was doing, she had hoped Aria wouldn't have noticed that Byron was not at the party but it didn't take her long to realize she had been foolish to think that way.

"I'm sorry Sweetheart; he had to go on an unplanned work trip to Miami. He won't be back until next Tuesday." Ella hugged her disappointed daughter, it broke her heart that Byron had turned so cold but there had always been a part of him that had been bitter.

Aria bit her lip and fought back tears that were pooling in her eyes, she wasn't going to cry on her birthday, but she couldn't believe that her father was being so horribly mean.

As if he could sense something was wrong, Ezra strolled into the kitchen and spotted mother and daughter hugging tightly. Aria's back was towards him but he could clearly see the pain and disappointment on Ella's face and it was enough to know exactly what was happening.

Ella opened her eyes and looked up at Ezra, a sad smile crossing her face and she slowly pulled away from her daughter, passing her delicately into the waiting arms of her protective and loving boyfriend. Ezra was good for Aria, Ella knew that, and she thanked God that he was her tonight.

Aria smiled up at Ezra sadly, becoming cross with herself as a single tear trailed down her face. She had battled so hard to keep them inside but she couldn't hide her feelings with him, as soon as she was in the warmth and safety of his arms she unraveled.

After twenty minutes in the kitchen that had been filled with 'I love you', gentle kisses and reassuring words, Aria was finally starting to enjoy herself again. She danced with her friends, ate great food and opened some really thoughtful gifts from her friends and family.

As one a.m. rolled around the last guests finally left, leaving her alone with Ezra, Ella and Mike. She looked around at her small family, Ezra included, it suddenly didn't matter that her father wasn't there with them.

"Are you ready for cake?" Ella asked as she led them into the kitchen.

Aria frowned; she hadn't even realized there hadn't been cake, amongst the cookies, ice cream, cheesecakes, scones and pies, who would have thought there would have been cake too?

As they approached the counter a large chocolate fudge cake awaited them, with eighteen candles lit perfectly. Aria grinned from ear to ear, it had been the best birthday of her life so far and it just kept on getting better and better.

Taking a deep breath she blew out all eighteen candles at once, inciting cheers and claps from Ezra, Mike and Ella.

"Make a wish!" Ella insisted excitedly, stopping for a moment to admire her daughter as she thought carefully about what she was going to wish for.

It didn't take her long to make her decision; she smiled up at Ezra happily and repeated the words he had said on his birthday a year previously.

"I don't need to…everything I want, I've already got." She spoke honestly as she leant across and kissed Ezra happily, not caring that her mother and brother were watching intently.

Her statement couldn't have been truer, everything she wanted from her life was in the room with her right now and nothing else in the world was important.

As Ella began cutting the cake Ezra led her onto the porch, his neatly wrapped gift clasped tightly in his hand.

"You took me shopping today…you really didn't need to get me anything else." Aria exclaimed as they sat down on the porch chair and snuggled together tightly.

Ezra handed her the gift; it came in two parts, the first was a box shaped item and the second was a flat thin parcel…she had absolutely no idea what could be in either of them.

Carefully she unwrapped the box and opened it slowly, a gasp coming from her mouth as she did. She couldn't believe her eyes, what she was seeing was more beautiful than anything she had seen before.

There were two items nestled securely in the box; the first was a key, a key she had seen before and she knew it was the key to his apartment. The second was a ring, a beautiful gold ring with tiny rubies nestled within it.

"It's a promise ring; I promise that no matter what we go through we'll always be together." Tears were once again flowing down Aria's cheeks as she listened to Ezra's words.

The happiness she was feeling right now was like nothing she had ever felt in her life.

Taking a deep breath she moved onto the second gift. As she opened the wrapping paper she was greeted with an envelope, with her confusion growing even more by the second and opened the envelope and pulled out the papers inside.

"What's this?" Aria asked slowly, taking a moment to read the words on the page to better understand the documents she had been given.

It didn't taken her long to understand and she didn't need his explanation.

The documents she was holding in her hands were the deeds to his apartment….their apartment.

"I had your name added a few weeks ago…it's your apartment to now. There's no pressure for you to move in, that's not what this is about, and I just want you to know you've always got somewhere to go that's your own…that's ours." Her heart couldn't take much more, his words had turned it into mush and she was pretty sure it would never be the same again.

Aria leaned towards him and pressed her forehead against his lovingly. Until this moment she realized she hadn't understood what it meant to really love someone; but right now she knew, the ache that she was feeling in her heart told her that what they had was going to be forever.

"I love you so much….so much." She whispered as she kissed his lips passionately.

She had the man every woman dreamt of having; they had overcome so much together and no matter what life had thrown at them, it had only ever made them stronger.

"I love you too." Ezra whispered against her silky smooth lips.

Today was the first day of the rest of their lives.

~x~

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